


Heat Wave

by missing_fawkes



Series: Summer On You [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Castiel Has a Crush on Dean Winchester, Charlie Bradbury Ships Castiel/Dean Winchester, Dean Winchester Has a Crush on Castiel, M/M, Meet-Ugly, Office Worker Castiel (Supernatural), POV Castiel (Supernatural), Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Summer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:35:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25359292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missing_fawkes/pseuds/missing_fawkes
Summary: When the summer heat in the office becomes unbearable, Charlie asks her best friend to come over and fix the AC.Unfortunately, Cas' first meeting with said best friend was more than a little awkward.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: Summer On You [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1836469
Comments: 8
Kudos: 121
Collections: Dean/Cas Summer Bucket-List Bingo 2020





	Heat Wave

Staring at the screen of his computer, Cas unsuccessfully tries to focus on the numbers in front of him.

The weather makes it impossible to concentrate and it doesn't help that he is bored out of his mind. 

Judging by her less than enthusiastic expression, Charlie is not faring any better.

Normally Cas likes his job - or at least doesn't hate it -, but spending nine hours in a room with broken air conditioning is not exactly his idea of fun, especially not on one of the hottest days of the year.

"When will they send someone over to fix this?," he groans, leaning back in his chair.

"Never," Meg snorts from the other side of their table group, "when I last filed a complaint about it, the answer I received was and I quote 'We will tend to the problem as soon as time and resources allow it' which translates to 'We will let you stew in your own sweat until it's winter and the problem doesn't need to be addressed anymore.'

We're lucky if that thing has seen an electrician by the end of spring."

"Well dear, if you can't stand the heat, get out of hell," Rowena quips from next to Cas and not for the first time today he wonders what kind of witchcraft is responsible for her being completely unaffected by the inhuman temperatures.

Not a drop of sweat is visible anywhere on her body, no hair is out of place and her face doesn't even show the slightest hint of a blush.

It is unfair seeing how the rest of them are sweaty messes.

"We've got to do something about this," Charlie states, but she isn't looking at her colleagues.

Instead her eyes are glued to the glass of water on her desk like she seriously considers pouring it all over herself.

"Hate to say it, but I agree with super-nerd over here," Meg says, shooting a death glare to the useless ventilator beside her, whose meek effect is downright pathetic. "I don't think I'm able to survive this much longer."

Cas only nods, too weak to make his brain work properly.

"I'm afraid, we'll have to wait," Rowena shrugs, completely unbothered, "Unless of course one of you knows how to fix such a thing."

Immediately all eyes turn to Meg who - like Castiel - has begun to aggressively fan herself. She stops mid-motion to glare at the three of them.

"Why are you staring at me? Don't you think I would've done something about this if I could? What about tech freak? Can't she rewire the stupid thing or reboot its system or whatever the fuck is necessary to get breathable air into this shit show of an office?" 

Charlie shakes her head apologetically.

Her bright red hair is standing out against the white walls of the office and clashes with the pink color of her overheated skin.

"Believe me, if I could fix that thing I would."

She looks like the only thing keeping her from bursting into tears is the dehydrated state of her body, but then her face lights up and all of a sudden she's grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh my god guys!," she squeals, "I might not know how to get that thing running, but I totally know someone who does."

She slams her palm against her sweaty forehead, but immediately draws back when she remembers its state. Momentarily distracted she looks down on her hand in disgust, before rubbing it against her pants.

"This heat wave really is taking a toll on brain cells, people," she claims, shaking her head.

"I can't believe I've been complaining this whole time and did not think of my best friend. He's a jack of all trades when it comes to handiwork, if someone can do it, it's him."

"What are you waiting for then?," Meg snarls, annoyance evident in her voice,

"I'd rather see his ability to fix the AC than hear about it." 

Unbothered by Meg's demeanor, Charlie grabs her cell phone and skips out of the room, her flowy blouse billowing behind her.

"Be right back," she calls over her shoulder, clearly pleased to have come up with a solution to their problem.

"Hey Dean!" is all Cas can hear before the door slams shut behind her and now his face is reddening for reasons entirely unrelated to the heat.

The thing about Charlie's best friend is, that he is hands down the most attractive human being on the planet - at least in Cas' humble opinion.

Dean sometimes picks Charlie up at the office and Cas has seen him waiting in the parking lot on multiple occasions.

Leaning against the hood of a gorgeous black car, he always looks like a model from the cover of a magazine: Impossibly handsome and impossible to look away from.

It does not help that Charlie's stories -which often feature Dean- paint the picture of a funny, open-minded and caring man.

Charlie had tried to introduce them once, but Cas -despite being determined to make a good impression- had found himself tongue tied and unable to utter a word, let alone a whole sentence.

So instead of greeting the man like a normal human being would've, all Cas had done was look at him, awestruck by his kind eyes and bright smile, that had wavered under Cas' stare until it disappeared. Cas would probably have died from embarrassment, hadn't his brain been entirely preoccupied with processing the beauty in front of him.

Looking back, he can't imagine what must have gone through Dean's mind.

Thankfully Charlie had taken pity on the both of them by declaring that they really needed to get going and "See you tomorrow, Cas", before practically throwing herself into the passenger seat. Dean's goodbye had consisted of a half smile and an awkward "Nice to meet you", before he, too, rescued himself into the car and drove off.

Cas had stood in the same spot for another five minutes after they had driven off, asking himself what he did to deserve such humiliation.

Luckily, Charlie interrupts his thoughts as she bursts into the room again, phone raised in victory.

"HE WILL COME BY!," she declares, a near maniacal grin on her face.

"Oh thank fuck," Meg groans. She has tied her usually perfectly curled brown hair into a messy bun on top of her head and presses the back of her hands against her red cheeks.

"Once he's done with work, he is going to head over to us," Charlie looks at her phone again, "which should be in about thirty minutes."

Cas seriously considers hiding in the restroom.

Or maybe he should just leave early. He's got enough overtime as it is and it's not like he's going to get any more work done today.

As if she heard his thoughts, Charlie strolls over and leans against his desk.

"There is something I wanted to talk to you about," she says earnestly and he automatically sits up a little straighter, sensing where the conversation is headed.

She and Dean must have talked about him once they were in the car.

He had never thought about it until now, since the way Charlie interacted with him hadn't changed, but his weird behavior must've come up.

His throat is dry as a desert, but he has no idea how to explain himself, to defend himself, so he waits with bated breath for her next words.

"Cas, you know you've become a good friend to me," Charlie begins and he hears the but coming before she even finishes speaking.

"But please try to be nicer this time."

Of all the things he expected her to say, this is most certainly not it.

"Nicer?, " he asks confused, not entirely sure he's heard her correctly.

Maybe that's her really polite way of saying 'I saw you ogle my friend, try to be less creepy this time'?

"Yeah nicer," Charlie repeats, making a vague gesture that betrays her discomfort and now Cas is sure that her perception of his staring is of an entirely different nature.

He must have somehow fucked things up, but not for the reason he thought.

Not sure if he should be relieved or scared, he waits for her to continue.

"Listen," she leans in closely and while Cas would usually appreciate the illusion of privacy, the body heat she's radiating, is almost too much for him.

"He would kill me if he knew I told you this, but I think it was pretty hard on him to get the cold shoulder from you, especially since you are my favorite coworker and I've told him a lot about you. To be honest, I kinda hoped you'd get along, since I was not exactly secretive about Dean either."

She sighs and rubs her palms against her jeans again. Clearly, she is not happy about having to have this conversation.

"Look, you're not obligated to like him, of course you're not."

Despite her words, she looks disappointed and Cas desperately wants to tell her how wrong she is, even though he still struggles to figure out how the hell she interpreted the moon eyes he made at Dean as dislike.

"I don't even know what point I'm trying to make here," she sighs, "I just thought you'd get along - still do actually - and no matter how much I think about it, I just can't come up with a single reason why you wouldn't even give him a chance," she shrugs helplessly, but when Cas opens his mouth to explain himself, to apologize, to tell her what was actually going on -as embarrassing as it is for him-, she simply holds up a hand.

"Wait, let me get this out first: There is a lot you don't know about him and it is most certainly not my story to tell, but he's been through a lot of shit, so he does not take conflict very well."

She pauses, then she abruptly leans forward and pokes a finger into Cas' chest.

"He might not act like it, but your behavior hurt him and it brought some stuff back up he has fought very hard to overcome and I will not let him go through it again."

Her disappointment has turned to anger and her tone is a mix of fascinated and pissed off.

"I did not recognize you back then. It was almost scary. I mean, your eyes got super dark and I swear you blinked like twice the entire five minutes we talked and you did not say a word, just looking at him, sizing him up like you were measuring his worth or whatever. You wouldn't be the first one to do it and let me tell you, being asked what he did wrong to make you hate him, is not something I want to relive."

At first, Cas can only shake his head. This is so much worse than everything he imagined and he feels terrible, even though there is no way he could have known.

 _Or acted differently_ , he thinks bitterly, remembering the way his body betrayed him.

But now is not the time for self-pity, he has to clear this up.

"I am so sorry," he says and Charlie relaxes a little which in turn helps ease Cas' own worries.

"This was not at all what my behavior was about. I didn't mean to make him feel judged or belittled. That was never my intention.

I did what I did not out of dislike," he sighs, burying his face in his hands as he forces the words out, "but because I was so awestruck by his beauty that I could neither speak nor take my eyes off him."

His cheeks are burning with embarrassment and shame and he keeps his eyes lowered, unable to look at Charlie, not wanting to see her reaction.

For a while Charlie says nothing.

In fact, she is silent for so long, that Cas fears she left and risks glancing up, only to find her softly smiling down on him.

"I knew you were one of the good ones," she says which is, once again, not at all what Cas expected, "But I'm not gonna lie, you had me kinda worried. For a moment I really thought my gut was letting me down. The whole situation makes _so_ much more sense now."

She winks at him, making him blush even harder and he feels entirely too hot right now.

"I mean when you did …," she raises an eyebrow, "did that mean …"

At first he tries to shrug it off, but under her scrutinizing look, Cas has no other choice, but to nod in defeat.

Her delighted squeal earns her a reluctant smile, but she sobers quickly, expression turning earnest once more.

"I'm sorry for going off on you like that, I guess I can be a little overprotective sometimes," she says and the shadow that crosses her face makes Cas wonder what she's thinking about.

Of course this is neither the time nor the place to ask, so he pushes his curiosity aside.

"Don't apologize. Your willingness to stand up for your friends is an admirable quality," he tells her, "I just wish it hadn't been me who caused you to do it. I really am sorry."

It's not the first time is peculiar behavior and mannerism has made somebody uncomfortable. It happens quite often that he accidentally irritates someone though usually not on this scale. To see the immense repercussions of his behavior is disheartening, because it shows him just how out of touch he can be with the rest of the world.

While he is grateful that Charlie has forgiven him, he knows he still has to talk to Dean and it's not going to be pleasant.

"It's okay, Cas. You couldn't have know," Charlie reassures him, "Don't beat yourself up for something you had no control over. Dean's like a big brother to me and I've known him for way too long, so I sometimes forget the effect he has on people. I should've warned you, knowing that he was gonna tick all your boxes."

Her grin is back in place and Cas has never been so happy about being teased.

"How could you have known that my manners and capability to function like a human would leave me in his presence."

"You're actually not the first one."

They share another smile, before Cas becomes serious again.

"I still need to apologize"

"Well, you can do that when he arrives," she winks at him, "If you can manage."

He cannot manage.

The moment Dean saunters into the room, Cas' brain locks up and he promptly decides to make good of his plan to hide in the bathroom.

What keeps him firmly in place is the realization that to leave the room, he has to get past Dean and he's not yet ready to come face to face with the man.

Instead he sits unmoving in front of his computer while Charlie goes up to greet Dean with a hug.

"You're a lifesaver," she says as her arms come around him and it's only when Dean relaxes into her embrace that Cas realizes how tense the other man had been.

The nervous look in his direction speaks volumes, but Dean is quick to look away again.

"I can see that," he says, "seriously how did you guys sit through this for a week? I've been here for two minutes and I'm already sweating."

"You could always take your shirt off," Charlie shrugs nonchalantly, making Cas bump his leg against his desk. He bites back a curse as pain shoots through his knee, trying to be as quiet as possible, but judging by the smug look on Charlie's face she knows exactly what the mental image of a shirtless Dean does to him.

As much as he appreciates her teasing and her support, he still has not spoken to the man whose forgiveness he seeks and even though he wants nothing more than to explain himself, he has no idea how to do that.

Watching Dean and Charlie share a smile, before they both get to work, seeing the familiarity in the way they move around each other and the fond look on Dean's face when Charlie flops down on her chair with a dramatic sigh, makes him feel even worse about the whole misunderstanding.

The knowing look on Rowena's face does nothing to ease his nerves, but when she places a - surprisingly cool - hand on his arm, he still risks a glance in her direction.

"Don't worry so much, darling. Just talk to him. It will be fine."

"What? No, I mean what?," he sputters, perplexed, "How do you know?"

She simply smiles at his question.

"Oh please, dear, I know everything."

His answer is cut off by a gust of cool air and when he looks up, Dean has his arms raised in victory.

"Well, that was easy," he says, pretending to dust off his hands.

"Oh my god, really?," Meg groans, "we've been stood up for ages, because of a 'lack of resources' when it takes five minutes to fix this?! God, I hate this company."

"You're welcome," Deans says with an eye-roll and Meg grins in reply.

"I have to admit, you don't suck, Winchester."

"High praise from the devil," Dean snorts, "But to be honest, I occasionally do."

Charlie wordlessly holds up her hand and Dean high-fives her on his way out, leaving a flustered Cas and a laughing Meg behind.

Seeing his only chance of redemption slip away, Cas gets up and follows after him into the long corridor that leads up to the elevator.

The other man is only a few steps ahead of him, close enough for Cas to call after him.

"Dean!"

He gets a forced smile in return, then Dean turns around and continues to walk away.

"I was wondering if we could talk."

His voice is both hopeful and apologetic and this time, Dean stops dead in his tracks, allowing Cas to catch up to him.

When he gets to his side, Dean's expression is closed off.

"Talk?," Dean asks incredulously, "You made it perfectly clear last time that you've got nothing to say to me."

For just a second Cas finds himself distracted by the muscles working in his jaw.

It is a second too long.

"That's what I thought," Dean scoffs when Cas fails to answer.

"Listen, man, you don't have to explain anything - even though I'm sure, Charlie told you to. For some reason, you don't like me and hell, just because we're both friends with Charlie, doesn't mean we have to get along. Got the message loud and clear. No hard feelings. From now on we're just gonna do it your way and ignore each other, okay?"

No. No, this is not okay. This is the opposite of what Cas wants.

"I'm sorry," he blurts out and Dean's eyebrows rise in astonishment and Cas' blanks.

He closes his eyes and takes a steadying breath.

" I wanted to apologize," Cas explains with a shaky smile, "for how I acted when we last met. I didn't mean to be ignorant or offensive, I simply …"

_Couldn't speak, because you're so hot it fries my brain each time I am around you._

"Tend to be a little awkward around new people," he concludes weakly, hoping the blush creeping up his cheeks goes unnoticed.

"I retreat into my shell and I'm sorry for any discomfort or hurt that might have caused and I hope you can forgive me."

He prays Dean will believe him.

It's not like he's lying; everything he said is true. It's just not everything that is to be said.

However, the shy smile on Dean's face is answer enough and Cas lets out a breath, he didn't know he was holding.

"There is nothing to forgive," Dean says and he looks like a weight has been lifted off of him.

"I'm just glad this turned out to be a misunderstanding."

Quieter, he adds: "I'm glad you don't hate me."

He rubs his palms together and his eyes dart from the ugly grey carpet to the weird abstract painting that hangs next to where Cas is standing, before looking down the hallway and it's then Cas realizes how much this has bothered Dean.

"I understand why you wouldn't want to" he pauses, before he shakes his uncertainty off, "but I would very much like for us to get along from now on."

He does not dare to use the term friends just yet, but Dean's next words make him believe there's hope for that.

"I'd like that, too."


End file.
